Carriage-call.



,No. 734,538. PATENTED JULY 1 3, 1903 k T. J. GUR'MAN.

CARRIAGE cALL.

APPLICATION nun MAR. 12, 1903.

, no MODEL. 2 SHEEN-SHEET 1 WITNESSES Mum 2&1:

v 'PATENTED' JIILY 28,1903. T. J. GORMAN. Q

, CARRIAGE GALL. -.u rmou1on FILED um. 12. 1903.

I ailtamqy I in: NORRIS PETERS c0, PNOTD-LI'H'EHWASHINGTQM BIC.

- PATENT l atented July 28, 1903. OFFICE.

THOMAS GORMAN, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

CARRIAGE-CALL.

SPECIFICATION forming, part of Letters Patent N o. 734,538, dated July, 28, 1903. Application filed March 12, 1903. Serial No. 147,490. (No model.)

To all whom it'mcty ooncel n:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. GORMAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of the boronghofManhattan, New York city, in the State ofoNew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Carriage-Oalls, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to indicators or annunciators for announcing the numbers of carriages, &c., and to mechanical devices for that purpose as distinguished from electrical indicators and annunciators. As used for calling conveyances at stores, theaters, and the like, for which the present device is primarily intended, such devices are known as carriage-calls.

The leading object of the present invention is to provide athoroughly practical device of Simple construction which can be economically duplicated to any required extent and which will be free from liability to get out of order and at the same time adapted to be readily repaired in case of the failure of anypart without the aid of an artisan.

The invention. consists in certain novel combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Two sheets of drawings accompany this specification as part thereof.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a sectional perspective viewof'a storm-door, such as is used for large retail stores, showing the improved carriage-call in operation. Fig. 2 represents a sectional elevation of the improved carriagecall, on a larger scale; and Fig. 3 is a sectional front view projected from Fig. 2 and indicating by a dotted line 2 2 the broken plane of section of thatfigure.

Like reference letters and numbers indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The main casing A of the improved carriage-call is suitably erected so that its face (shown in Figs. 1 and 3) may be readily seen from a distance in a given direction, and its supports include a hollow upright B, beneath the same atone side, which in practice is supplemented by suitable metallic braces,

(represented at l,- 2, and 3 in Fig. 1.) The interior of said main casing A-(exp0sed to View in Figs. 2 and 3) is constructed with ten vertical guides at at each sideand on each side of one or more vertical partitions 4, and preferably with a second floor or shelf 5, which is provided with a cushioning-carpet 5, Fig. 2, of felt, rubber, or the like, at the lower extremity of said guides. formed in front of said guides at bottom. Sliding plates 0, hereinafter termed slides, each bearing a single large numeral, are mounted in said guides, so as to drop by gravity onto said shelf 5, in which position the slides bearing the numerals 3 and 2 are shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Theten slides con each side of apartition 4 are termed a set and bear the series of numeral characters O to 9, and normally all the slides occupy the elevated position in which most of them are shown in the drawings. The slides c are held in said elevated position by a series of detent-pins d, arranged at a convenient height beneath said main casing upon a keyboard 0, which is preferablyiand. conveniently an extension of the back of said hollow upright B, characters corresponding with those on the respective slides being arranged above the respective detent-pins, as in Fig. 2, together with suitabledecimal indications (represented by tens and units in Fig. 2) to further facilitate locating the detent-pins d, corresponding to the slides 0, representing any given number. Metallic links 6 at the lower ends of flexible cordsfinterlock with said detent-pins at when the Slides 0 are in their-elevated position and when disengaged therefrom, as at 3 and 2 in Fig. 2, permit the corresponding, slides to gravitate; into their lower position. Said cords f extend vertically through a pair of perforated guides 6 and 7, by which they are changed from asingle rank into double rank and through any required number of such double-rank guides,as shown at 8 and 9 in Fig. 3. Above the uppermostof said double-rank guides the respective cords extend horizontally over pairs of grooved pulleys g h to points vertically above the middle.

of the respective slides c, where they extend A. light-box b is downward and are securely attached to the l I claim as my invention and desire to patent slides, as represented at t' in Fig. 3. Each row of pulleys g h for the cordsf of a given rank are supported upon ahorizontal rod 10, upon which they rotate freely. These rods are supported at their ends by the back of the main casing Aand a wall 11, parallel therewith, which may be the front wall of the easing. A strut-12 immediately above each row of pulleys protects them against being crowded on their rod 10.

The front of the casing A is composed, mainly, of a door 13, having hingesj and fastenings k at its respective edges and provided with a window Z, preferably glazed. In line with this windowl an opening m is formed in the back of said light-box b, and within the light-box incandescent electric lamps n or other suitable illuminating devices are arranged. These illuminating devices n are preferably and conveniently located below the plane of said window 1 and shelf 5, so as to be themselves concealed from view and so as to concentrate their light in an effective manner upon the faces of the slides c in their lowered position. The device may thus he adapted to be used with artificial light as effectively as in daylight without complication or special expense.

The capacity of the device may readily be increased to hundreds by the addition of a third set of slides, and in carriage-calls for theaters, for example, by using a call of the higher capacity and one with ninety-nine as the limit, such as is shown in the drawings, two attendants can call the carriages at one and the same time, thereby getting the crowd away in half the time that would be necessary with a single call and at far less cost for the two than for a single call of the construction heretofore commonly used. The device, as already indicated, is adapted for other analogous uses-for example, in department-stores and like establishments for calling cash-boys or salesmen by number, at railroad stations for indicating the arrival and departure of trains in like manner, at racetracks and other places of amusement for indicating the numbers of a program, &c.

In operation as a carriage-call at the entrance of a large retail store, as indicated in Fig. 1, an attendant stands before the keyboard O, the customer passes through the door to the carriage-entrance, the attendant takes her check and drops the number corresponding therewith, and as soon as she can reach the sidewalk her carriage will be in waiting without confusion or uncertainty.

The connections, hereinbefore termed cords, may be either of suitable cord or of rawhide or the like, or they may be suitable chains, and other like modifications in matters of detail will suggest themselve to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described said improvement,

under this specification- 1. A carriage-call comprising an elevated main casing, a hollow upright constituting a support for said casing at one side thereof and provided internally with cord-guides, a subjacent keyboard provided with detentpins, flexible cords adapted at their lower ends to interlock with said pins and extend ing upwardly through said guides, grooved pulleys directing said cords horizontally, and gravitating numeral-bearing slides arranged decimally in sets, side by side, suspended individually from said cords respectively and dropped individually by disengaging the appropriate cord from its detent-pin, said casing being provided with vertical guides for said slides and with a window through which the numerals are exposed to view when the slides are dropped.

2. The combination, in a carriage-call or like device, of an elevated casing provided internally with vertical guides, gravitating numeral-bearing slides arranged decimally in sets, in said guides, a hollow upright constituting a support for said casing and provided internally with perforated cord-guides the lowermost of which is provided with the necessary number of holesin a single rank, a subjacent keyboard provided with detent-pins arranged decimally, flexible cords adapted at their lower ends to interlock with said detent-pins respcctivelyand guided first in single rank and then in double rank to the top of the interior of said casing, and guide-pulleys within the casing for directing said cords horizontally over the respective slides, to which the cords are respectively attached.

3. The combination, in a carriage-call or like device, of an elevated casing provided internally with vertical guides, gravitating numeral-bearing slides arranged decimally in sets, in said guides, a hollow upright constituting a support for said casing and provided internally with perforated cord-guides the lowermost of which is provided with the necessary number of holes in a single rank, asubjacent keyboard provided with detent-pins arranged decimally, flexible cords provided with links at their lower ends to interlock with said detent-pins respectively and guided first in single rank and then in double rank to the top of the interior of said casing, and guide-pulleys within the casing for directing said cords horizontally over the respective slides to which the cords are respectively attached.

4. In a carriage-call or a like device, a main casing provided internally with vertical guides and having its front provided with a window, gravitating numeral-bearing slides in said guides exposing their numerals to view through said window in their lowered position, means for supporting said slides normally in elevated position and for lowering said slides individua11y,- a shelf within shelf for artificial light,substant,ia11y asheresaid casing upon which {he lowered slides inbefore specified. rest, and a light-box within the casing at its AS GORMAN front, extending below said window and said 5 shelf, and provided with an opening in its back in line with said window and with illuminating devices below said window and said Witnesses:

J OHN SHAW, J OHN NELSON. 

